Question 359574
"A box with a square base and no lid is to be made from a square piece of metal by cutting 5cm squares from the corners and folding up the sides. If the volume of the box is 100cm cubed, find the dimensions of the square piece of metal. 
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let sides of plate be x cm
5cm square is cut in the corners
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the measure of the sides will reduce by 10 cm
sides of box = x-10
since it is folded at 5 cm the height will be 5 cm
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the sides  of the square box will be (x-10)
height = 5 cm
Volume V = 100
(x-10)(x-10)*5 = 100
(x^2-20x+100)*5 = 100
(x^2-20x+100) = 100/5
x^2-20x+100=20
x^2-20x+80=0
use quadratic formula
discriminant = 80
x=(20+sqrt(80))/2
=14.47 cm the length of the sheet metal
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m.ananth@hotmail.ca